There are many reasons why people gain belly fat, including poor diet, lack of exercise, and stress. Improving nutrition, increasing activity, and making other lifestyle changes can help people lose belly fat. Belly fat refers to fat around the abdomen.
Exercise and dieting helps you lose belly fat
The starting point for bringing weight under control, in general, and combating abdominal fat, in particular, is regular moderate-intensity physical activity — at least 30 minutes per day (and perhaps up to 60 minutes per day) to control weight and lose belly fat.
It may be the regular consumption of alcohol, stress, hormones, bad posture, recent pregnancy, bloating, or others. If you are determined to flatten your belly, you should exercise more and stick to a healthy diet.
Abdominal swelling, or distention, is more often caused by overeating than by a serious illness. This problem also can be caused by: Air swallowing (a nervous habit) Buildup of fluid in the abdomen (this can be a sign of a serious medical problem)
People who regularly eat and drink more calories than they burn each day are more likely to gain extra weight, including belly fat. Getting older also makes a difference. People lose muscle as they age. And the problem is worse for those who are not physically active.
There are several causes of belly fat in women, including hormonal changes, lack of physical activity, and poor diet. To combat belly fat, it's essential to focus on lifestyle changes such as incorporating regular exercise, eating a balanced diet, and managing stress.
A hormonal belly looks like an accumulation of fat around the belly. It looks like excess fat on the stomach that cannot be removed. Hormonal imbalances can lead to excess fat accumulation in the belly area.
It might be as simple as eating too much too fast, or you could have a food intolerance or other condition that causes gas and digestive contents to build up. Your menstrual cycle is another common cause of temporary bloating. Sometimes a bloated stomach can indicate a more serious medical condition.
You could have a condition called Diastasis Recti Abdominus, or DRA. DRA is caused by an increase in abdominal pressure and occurs when the rectus abdominus, the abdominal muscle that runs down the center of your stomach, separates.
While there isn't one magic food that will melt away belly fat, studies have reported certain foods have special belly-fat-burning benefits, such as avocado, artichokes, whole grains, kefir, green tea, eggs, peanuts and chickpeas.
The PCOS belly involves the accumulation of visceral fat in the lower abdomen and typically feels firm to the touch. A PCOS belly is also characterized by a high waist-to-hip ratio of greater than 0.87 (apple body shape). However, some individuals may not experience any noticeable changes in their stomach.
According to our experts, the reason you gain weight so rapidly in your midsection and not in, say, your calves and forearms is because the adipocytes (or fat cells), which are found throughout the body, are more plentiful in the hips, butt, stomach, and thigh area for women and stomach for men.
Your brain signals your diaphragm to move down and your abdominal walls to relax — essentially creating more space for your stomach. While overeating is the most common cause of bloat, other causes include: Eating more high-fiber foods than you're used to. Constipation.
There are several possible causes for your lower abdominal bulge. These could include: fat distribution, a hernia, weakening of the tissue between your rectus abdominus muscles (rectus diastasis) or an intra-abdominal mass.
Hormone imbalances can lead to several physical symptoms, including hormonal belly, or bloating. This is weight gain around the stomach.
Belly fat caused by stress is more common than you think. In fact, it's so common that medical experts dub it “stress belly.” Although not a medical diagnosis, stress belly is a term used to describe how stress and hormones caused by stress affect your belly. Stress affects weight for a number of reasons.
“Hormonal changes, such as decreased levels of estrogen in women during and after menopause, can also contribute to increased abdominal fat,” says Scott Keatley, R.D., cofounder of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy.
Certain gastrointestinal diseases cause gas and bloating, including small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), celiac disease, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Inflammation of the abdominal lining (peritonitis).
Abdominal obesity, also known as central obesity and truncal obesity, is the human condition of an excessive concentration of visceral fat around the stomach and abdomen to such an extent that it is likely to harm its bearer's health.
Persistently feeling bloated and full is one of the most common early signs of ovarian cancer. And bloating accompanied by abdominal distension (visible swelling in your stomach) could be a red flag that there is a problem.